


Written All Over It

by Fervidflowering



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 03:31:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17418245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fervidflowering/pseuds/Fervidflowering
Summary: Carl is aging and Elijah thinks he's clever.





	Written All Over It

A message pops up on his phone, the tinny voice announcing the arrival. 

“Message from The Hermit. Would you like me to read it out loud?” The tinny voice bounces out of the phone behind him on a messy table atop several empty boxes. 

“No. Thank you.” Carl waggles a paintbrush in his hand, eyes glued to the canvas. His thumb rubs over the same small worn section right in the base of the concave swoop down the brush’s side. There’s a white noise coming back over his thoughts as he sits there, wearing away at a paintbrush. The sun warms his back. 

Either a minute later or a long while later, the doorbell rings and a low voice filters through the room like the voice of God. “There is a delivery waiting for you at the door, Carl. Would you like me to open the door for them?”

“Christ,” he mutters as he unfolds himself from the bench, his joints creaking and popping from the age of his body and the prolonged sitting. His hand jerks a bit as he sets the brush down, his torso swaying forward just a bit. His eyes look back at the blank canvas in front of him and he glares for all the good it’ll do him. He raises his voice for the AI. “No, I’ll get it.”

It is not easy, levering himself off of the stool and reaching for his cane. His doctors keep warning him that sooner or later his body won’t be able to handle the stress of walking upright and his muscles are already deteriorating faster than expected. He bites down and reaches for his cane and the coming slow progression to the foyer. As he creaks through his own house, his knees whine and something pops, birdsong greets him and trinkets from his younger years. The hiss of the foyer door precedes the sight of a large shadow darkening the glass of his front door. As he hobbles closer, he reaches out his free hand to wave at the door’s sensor. As it swings open, he’s given a sight he had not been prepared for. 

A man stands before him with eyes looking over Carl’s shoulder the color of dry grass. He’s got freckles and a smart jacket and an LED at his temple. 

“What’s this?” He grumps, he can’t help himself. Androids are all well and fine, but they’re not for him. The idea of having someone who wouldn’t have free will sits uneasy with him, even if the constant chatter about them being machines is technically accurate. To look in a face as human-like as his own and order it around. But this? The whole thing has Elijah written all over it. He should have listened to the message. 

A petite blonde woman responds - she’s also got an LED at her temple, he notices. 

“Good morning Mr. Manfred. My name is Chloe. I was instructed to bring this gift to you from Mr. Kamski. He wished me to convey his happiness at your acceptance of his gift on your birthday.” She smiles pleasantly at him. The man to her left is still glancing around as if he isn’t paying attention to the conversation happening right in front of him.   
Carl’s brow lies heavy over his eyes and he looks back to Chloe. “I’m sorry, but there’s no way I can return him to Elijah?” 

“Elijah informed me to say that should you return RK-200, he will be forced to deactivate and destroy the android as quickly as possible. RK-200 is a prototype housekeeper android and Elijah believes you are the perfect match for its test run.”

That brat, he thinks as his stomach rolls.

Carl steps back and waves Chloe and RK-200 into the foyer. While Chloe walks almost naturally, RK-200 is just slightly stilted, like a young bird. 

“And do you have a name? Besides RK-200, I mean.” He turns away from them and walks towards the living room. His hip is already twinging. 

“I do not.” The reply has a flat tone to it and Carl can’t help but feel a little disappointed. “Would you like any assistance, Mr. Manfred?” Carl stops at that and looks back at the two androids. There’s just the slightest lisp in RK-200’s pronunciation and it intrigues him. A planned bit of program on Elijah’s part or an accident, he wondered as he looked over his caretaker. 

“No,” he ends up replying with a smile as he meets RK-200’s eyes. “Not at the moment. But thank you. Please,” he waves his hand at the couch before them. “Take a seat.” He shuffles over to the opposite couch and leans back for a moment. His spine sounds like popcorn. 

When he looks back at the pair across from him, Chloe looks back with a smile and RK-200 looks back with a rather blank face beyond a small tilt of his lips. Chloe eventually took the lead. 

“Elijah asked me to remain with both of you until all of your questions had been answered. Are there any questions you have, Mr. Manfred?” Carl looks between her and RK-200, questions rising and falling in his thoughts before determining one to land on. 

“Can androids choose their own names? I’ll confess, most of my knowledge of androids comes from Elijah and even that is a small scale.”

“Androids can pick a name randomly from a compiled list, if you would prefer. To register a name, please stand before the android and say ‘Register your name’ and then state the chosen name, if you choose to pick a name for RK-200.” Neither of the androids so much as fidgeted. Meanwhile, Carl was grasping and releasing his cane’s grip with uncertainty.

“Very well, thank you, Chloe. I suppose that will be enough to get the ball rolling. Would you like anything before you head back?” He can’t recall now what’s considered polite when it comes to androids. Does he even have anything she would be able to digest or use? He grips his cane as he smiles at her. 

“No, thank you Mr. Manfred. Before I leave, however, I will give you Elijah’s final message.” She stands up from the couch and looks back at RK-200 before turning to Carl. “Take care of him, Carl. Treat him like your second chance.”

And she’s already turning away from him before the words truly register. When they do, he feels something white hot streak up his spine and drain the blood from his face. He tightens his grip on his cane until his knuckles are white and he barely hears the doors shut behind her as she walks out of his house. If that brat ever shows his face in public again, Carl swears he’ll punch Elijah repeatedly. 

“Mr. Manfred, if I may, your heartrate is increased. Please take a few deep breaths. In your condition, drastically increased heartrates are not good signs.” Carl hadn’t even seen RK-200 stand up, but he was beside him on the couch with a slight look of concern on his face. 

Carl takes a deep breath like RK-200 asked.


End file.
